Our favourite vinyl releases and reissues of April 2021

Electro boogie from Brazil, Broken Beats from London, Electro from Detroit, Techno from Amsterdam and more.

Here are some of our top picks from a fine month in electronic and soul jazz music.

Zopelar – Universo (Apron)

Electro, boogie, and deep house combine on the album from Sao Paolo’s Zopelar on the ever-more-essential Apron label from Funkineven. Also, check out Quaid – Dreem Static that came out on Apron this month.

K1 / Dopplereffekt – Star Gazing EP (Puzzlebox)

Electro kings Keith Tucker (Aux88) and Dopplereffekt on one record? This couldn’t fail.

Kaidi Tatham – An Insight To All Minds (First Word)

Another stellar album from the man known as the UK’s Herbie Hancock – Kaidi Tatham. An artist on an incredible run of form, mixing keys, funk, and broken beats together to produce a truly unique sound.

Dego – The Negative Positive (2000 Black)

Kaidi Tatham’s key collaborator follows up 2019’s “Too Much” with a new album mixing up techno, jazz, soul, and boogie. Features a track with Samii who you may recognise from her recent Figuring It Out release on 2000 Black.

Moodymann – Taken Away (KDJ)

KDJ’s recent critically acclaimed album finally gets the vinyl treatment and comes backed with a third 12″ featuring unreleased tracks from the “Demos, Cassettes, ADATs & Floppies Pt​.​1” release. Don’t sleep.

John Beltran / Nostalgic – Going Home EP (Back To Life)

An essential 12″ of dreamy Detroit techno finally gets the reissue from Back To Life.

The Abstract Eye – Epileptix EP (Neroli)

Neroli continues a close-to-flawless recent run of releases with 4 tracks of floating, retro-electro from The Abstract Eye. Pretty different from the labels recent housier releases but the quality remains high. Check out our interview with Neroli label boss Volcov here.

Jordan Gcz – Introspective Acid (Rush Hour)

Weirdo techno from one of the most underappreciated producers in the genre. There’s been a lot of talk recently about techno running out of ideas – Jordan GCZ keeps proving otherwise. If you want more of this then check out Jordan’s Patreon account where he “is creating music and teaching improv tools to unblock & unf*ck your music “.

Mirror Touch – Balancing EP (Metamorphic)

Dan Curtin’s Metamorphic label introduces another talent in the shape of London-based producer Mirror Touch – a modern update on vintage Detroit techno with a remix from Curtin himself.

Francois K – FK EP (Wave Music)

One of the all-time classic house tracks, Francois K’s Hypnodelic gets a reissue alongside 3 other key tracks from the US house legend’s unmatched production catalogue.

Love Drop – We Got To Get Our Shit Together (GAMM)

The second release on GAMM from Love Drop delivers two seriously heavy disco cuts aimed straight for the small basement clubs. “We Got Our Shit Together” is a disco jam that just builds and builds with big horns and orchestral strings. The b-side “Let it go” is a warmer vocal affair that drips of soul, funk…and of course mo’.

Alfa Mist – Bring Backs (Epitah)

Bring Backs reveals Alfa Mist’s journey as a producer, self-taught pianist and rapper as he takes us on a sonic trip back to his beat-making past on the streets of East London. Bring Backs shows why Alfa Mist remains a driving force behind a young and vibrant scene of UK jazz musicians.